Snap-in panel clip



Feb. 13, 1962 o. BYRANSFORD, JR 3,020,988

SNAP-IN PANEL CLIP ATTORNEY 2 Sheets-Sheet l ERNEST OWEN BRANSFORD JR BY MP (4 Filed Oct. 21, 1960 Feb. 13, 1962 E. o. BRANSFORD, JR

SNAP-IN PANEL 7 CLIP 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed 001;. 21, 1960 INVENTOR ERNEST OWEN BRANSFORD, JR.

BY WA MAM ATTORNEY 3,020,988 SNAP-IN PANEL CLIP Ernest O. Bransford, Jan, Greensboro, N.C., assignor to Beaman Corporation, a corporation of North Carolina Filed Oct. 21, 1960, Ser. No. 64,046 8 Claims. (Cl. 189-88) This invention relates to the application of surface paneling to the walls of buildings. More particularly, the invention provides an improved device for clipping sheet metal panels to the framing and other support members of building walls in a convenient and economical manner adapted to be installed and applied on the job rapidly by unskilled workmen.

Heretofore in the use of panels, such as those of sheet metal or porcelain enamel on steel, as an exterior facing for new or existing buildings, various clips have been proposed for mounting the panels in place on the walls. Some prior clips have required that they be attached to the panels at the factory. The rough handling which the panels receive in being transported to the building, unloaded from trucks, thrown on the ground, and brought into position, has frequently resulted in bending or breakage of the clips and/or distortion of the panels, requiring the units to be discarded, or necessitating timeconsuming repairs.

Other prior art clips have left the panels loose and insecure so that they rattled, after attachment to a wall, Further, other prior as a result of wind or vibration. clips have been of insufficient strength to support large or heavy panels. Some prior clips have been difficult to install or did not provide for a positive attachment to the panel.

The present invention provides a clip that is attached to the facing panel at the building site. One advantage resulting from this feature of the invention is the elimination of the breakage and bending of the clips occurring when it was necessary to attach the clips to the panels at the factory.

The new clip has sufficient strength to support large, heavy panels. The clip firmly holds the panels in position so as to provide a finished building wall free from rattling.

The invention also provides a facing panel shaped to mate with the clip of the invention to provide for a secure, rattle-free, finish for buildings. 7

Another object of the invention is to provide a building system including clips and facing panels for providing an improved wall facing.

For a better understanding of the invention and its other objects, advantages and details, referenceis now made to the presently preferred embod ment of the invention which is shown, for purposes of illustration only, in the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a pair of mounting clips constructed according to the invention and cut away portions of a facing panel to which the clips are to be attached;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary vertical section through a building wall faced with panels secured by clips in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical section of the top clip shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical section showing the mounting of the lower panel on the middle clip of FIG. 2 with the upper panel in the process of being attached to the clip;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged vertical section taken at the middle clip shown in FIG. 2 after the erection of the upper and lower panels;

2 FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical section of the bottom clip shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary horizontal section on the line 7--7 in FIG. 3; and i FIG. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary view showing the manner in which a clip is moved into engagement with r a panel.

Briefly stated, the invention includes a specially formed facing panel and a novel type of clip for attaching the panel to a building wall. The panel includes a facing sheet and upper and lower marginal flanges. Each of these flanges is formed with a recess and a juxtaposed slot. The clip includes spaced apart front and rear walls connected by a bottom. When the clip is assembled to the panel at the site of the building, the front wall of the clip is inserted in the slot in the upper flange of the panel adjacent the slot and the recess accommodates the rear wall and permits the pivoting of the clip required during attachment. The clip bottom includes a pair of end tabs which overlie the panel flange at the ends of the recess, and a pair of resilient legs depend from the front wall for pressing against the panel flange adjacent the slot. Thus the clip has bearing on the panel flange at four spaced points so as to provide a stable and steady attachment of the flange to the clip.

The clip also includes a pair of resilient fingers depending from the rear wall to'bear against the bottom I wall 40 and projects forwardly right-angularly therefrom.

flange of the upper panel that rises above the clip. This upper panel is thus held between the resilient legs and the resilient fingers.

As seen in the drawings, and particularly in FIG. 2, a building wall 10 has attached thereto a series of hori-. zontally aligned and vertically superposed sheet metal flanged upper facing panels, comprising upper and lower panels 12 and 14, respectively. Mounting clips securely attach the panels to the wall and include, for the upper and lower panels 12 and 14, top clips 16, middle clips 18, and bottom clip 20. As shown in FIG. 1, each panel top and bottom flange is attached by a plurality, e.g., a pair, of laterally spaced clips.

As also shown in FIG. 2, the upper panel 12 includes a facing sheet 24, an upper flange 26, and a lower flange 28. The lower panel 14 is identical and includes a facing sheet 30, an upper flange 32, and a lower flange 34. Each'of the panels has vertical side flanges (not shown) so that the panel is of shallow pan shape completely perimetrically trimmed by a continuous integral flange.

Each of the clips includes a back wall 40 having'a preferably horizontally elongated hole 42 formed therein for screws or nails 44 to attach the clip to the wall 10.

A bottom 46 is joined to the lower edge of the back A front wall 48 is joined to the outer edge of bottom 46 and rises perpendicularly therefrom was to be gen-' erally parallel to the back wall 40. The'upper end 50 of the front wall 48 is curved toward the back wall, v40v so that the front wall'48 readily enters the, slot 52, formed in each panel flange, when the clip andpanel are asse'nv bled, as viewed in FIG. 8. e

A recess or cutout 54 is formed in the marginal edge of each panel flange directly behind each slot 52. Each recess has a suflicient length to receive the bottom 46 of the clip when the clip is assembled to the panel, as seen in FIG. 8. Thus, each recess 54 has a length slightly greater than the width of the bottom46.

A web 56 separates each recess 54 from the adjacent slot 52. When a clip is attached to the upper flange of a panel, as seen in FIGS. 8 and 3, the web 56 overlies the bottom 46 of the clip. The web 56 ispressed firmly into engagement with the bottom 46 by a pair of resilient legs 58 and 60 integral with the clip front wall 48 and extending-obliquely rearwardly from the-front-wall to:

Patented Feb. 13, i862 3 ward the back wall. These legs 58 and 60 are yieldable and resilient so as to be deformed out of position when the front wall 48 is forced through the slot 52, as seen in FIG. 8.

At the lower ends of the legs 58 and 60 are feet 62 which extend substantially perpendicularly to the legs. The feet are spaced above the bottom 46 by a distance substantially equal to the thickness of the panel web 52 so as to permit the web to assume the position shown in FIG. 3.

For further holding the panel flange in tight, non-rattling contact with the clip, a pair of tabs 64 and 66 are provided extending from opposite edges of the bottom 46. Offsets 68 connect the tabs 64 and 66 to the bottom 46. The tabs are substantially parallel to the bottom 46 and are spaced above the bottom by a distance substantially equal to the thickness of the panel flange 26 so as to provide a tight engagement when the clip and panel are assembled.

In order firmly to hold the lower flange 28 of upper panel 12 in assembled or erected position, a pair of yieldable resilient fingers 70 and 72 extend obliquely from opposite vertical side edges of the back Wall 40 in a direction generally toward the front wall 48. Thus, the lower flange 28 of the upper panel 12 is resiliently held between the resilient fingers 70 and 72 and the resilient legs 58 and 60.

When erecting the building wall facing provided by the present invention, initially the clips are assembled or installed in the upper flanges of the facing panels at the building site. This is done by inserting the front wall 48 of each clip in a flange slot 52 and pressing the clip upwardly through the slot while keeping the tabs 64 and 66 above the flange, as seen in FIG. 8. The recess or cutout 54 receives the bottom 46 as the front wall 48 of the clip slides upwardly through the slot 52. When the front wall 48 is fully inserted in the slot 52, the resilient legs move to the position shown in FIG. 3 where the feet 62 press firmly downwardly on the web 56 to hold the web 56 against the clip bottom 46.

With the clips thus inserted securely in the upper flange of a panel, another pair of clips are nailed, screwed or otherwise attached, as by the means 44, through the clip holes 42, to the wall at a suitable spacing apart, and at a suitable level on the wall, to fit into the recesses and slots of the bottom flange of the panel that has had the pair of clips mounted in its upper flange. The panel is then mounted on the two wall-mounted clips by rocking it into position on the clips, with the front walls of the clips upstanding through the panel flange slots 52 and with the material of the flange beyond the ends of the two recesses 54 seated on the tabs 64, all in the relationship shown in the lower portion of FIG. 6.

Next, the workman drives a fastener 44 through the holes 42 in the clips previously secured to the upper flange of the panel to complete the attachment of the panel to the wall. The lower flanges 28 of the next higher course of panels are then mounted on these latter in the manner that has been explained, and the operation is repeated, course after course up the wall, as will be understood. Shims (not shown) can be employed wherever required between wall 10 and back walls 40 to line up the facing panels and compensate for unevenness and irregularities in the surface of the wall 10, which may be of masonry such as cinder block, wood framing or other conventional material.

After application or erection, the building system provides a firm, rattle-free wall finish. The tabs 64 and 66, offset plates 68 and legs 58 and 60 engage the web 56 and the flange so as to prevent sliding of the flange in a direction toward or away from the wall 10. Rocking or pivoting of the panel flange relative to the clip is prevented by the binding action developed between the panel flange and the bottom 46 and tabs 64 and 66.

Thus it will be seen that the invention provides a combination of a mounting clip and a building facing panel constructed to be readily applied to a building and to provide economical use of materials and a stable, firm finish for a building Wall.

In the foregoing brief exposition of the preferred embodiment of the invention, it has been stated that the clips are attached to the upper and lower flanges of the panels. This is the customary arrangement in applying superposed courses of panels to a wall. However, it is quite possible to aflix the clips to the vertical, side flanges of the panels and to nail or otherwise fasten such clips to the wall 10 at the sides of the panels, rather than at their tops and bottoms. This modified arrangement is particularly suitable for use in the trimming of canopies.

While a presently prefer-red embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, it will be recognized that the invention can be otherwise variously embodied and practiced within the scope of some of the more broadly worded of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a building construction, the combination of a facing panel and a clip for attaching said panel to a surface of the building, said panel including a facing sheet and flanges at opposite ends of said facing sheet, at least one of said flanges having a terminal edge extending parallel to said facing sheet and having a recess formed therein and having a slot spaced inwardly from said recess by an intervening web portion of the flange, said clip comprising a back wall for abutting the building surface, a bottom joined to the lower edge of said back wall and extending substantially right-angularly thereto, said bottom having a width no greater than the length of said recess, a front wall joined to the front edge of said bottom and rising generally parallel to said back wall, said back wall being spaced from said front wall by a distance suflicient for said front wall to be received in said slot when said clip and panel are assembled, a pair of yieldable, resilient legs extending from opposite edges of said front wall obliquely toward said back wall, the lower ends of said legs being spaced above said bottom by a distance substantially equal to the thickness of said panel web portion, and a pair of tabs each extending from an opposite edge of said bottom, and being substantially parallel to said bottom and spaced above said bottom by a distance substantially equal to the thickness of said panel flange, a pair of offset plates connecting said tabs to said bottom, the distance between the outermost ends of said tabs being somewhat greater than the length of said recess in said flange so that when said clip and panel are assembled said tabs will overlie said flange.

2. In a building construction, the combination of a facing panel and a clip for attaching said panel to a sur' face of the building, said panel including a facing sheet and flanges at opposite ends thereof, at least one of said flanges having a terminal edge extending parallel to said facing sheet and having a recess formed therein and having a slot substantially as long as said recess spaced inwardly from said recess by an intervening web portion of said flange, said clip comprising a back wall for abutting a surface of the building and having an aperture formed therein for a fastener, a bottom joined to the lower edge of said back wall and extending substantially rightangularly thereto, a front wall joined to the front edge of said bottom and rising generally parallel to said back wall, said front wall being received in said slot with said web portion overlying said bottom, the upper part of said front wall being curved toward said back wall, a pair of yieldable, resilient legs extending from opposite edges of said front wall obliquely toward said back wall, said legs having feet at their lower ends extending away from said back wall and substantially perpendicularly to said legs and being spaced above said bottom by a distance substantially equal to the thickness of said web portion and resiliently pressing against said web portion, a pair of tabs each extending from opposite edges of said bottom and being substantially parallel to said bottom and spaced above said bottom by a distance substantially equal to the thickness of said panel flange, a pair of oflset plates connecting said tabs to said bottom, said tabs extending over said flange at opposite ends of said recess, and a pair of yieldable resilient fingers extending obliquely from opposite edges of said back Wall toward said tabs and terminating above said tabs.

3. For use in securing 21 facing panel to a surface, a clip comprising a back wall, a bottom joined to the lower edge of said back wall and substantially perpendicular thereto, a front wall joined to the edge of said bottom opposite from said back wall and extending generally parallel to said back wall, a pair of tabs each extending from opposite edges of said bottom and being substantially parallel to said bottom and spaced above it, and a pair of yieldable resilient legs extending from opposite edges of said front wall toward said back wall and having their lower ends spaced above the upper surface of said bottom.

4. A clip as set forth in claim 3, including a pair of yieldable resilient fingers extending from opposite edges of said back wall toward said front wall.

5. For usein securing a facing panel to a surface, a clip comprising a back wall, a bottom joined to the lower edge of said back wall and extending substantially perpendicularly thereto, a front wall joined to the edge of said bottom remote from said back wall and extending perpendicularly to said bottom and generally parallel to said back wall, a pair of tabs each extending from 0pposite edges of said bottom, said tabs being substantially parallel to said bottom and spaced above it a pair of offset plates connecting said tabs to said bottom, a pair of yieldable resilient fingers extending obliquely from opposite edges of said back wall toward said tabs and terminating above said tabs, 21 pair of yieldable resilient legs extending from opposite edges of said front wall obliquely in a general direction toward said back wall and having feet at their lower ends extending away from said back wall and substantially perpendicularly to said legs, said feet having their lowermost surfaces spaced above the upper surface of said bottom, said back wall having an aperture formed therein for reception of means for fastening the clip to said surface. v

6. A clip for securing a metal panel having an edge flange to a building wall comprising a metal plate formed in substantial U-shape having generally parallel front and back walls connected by a bottom, the back wall being slitted to provide at each lateral edge of the wall a resilient finger terminating above the plane of the bottom, and the front wall being similarly slitted to provide at each lateral edge a resilient leg terminating above the plane of the bottom and below the plane of the lower ends of the back wall fingers, and a pair of tabs extending laterally from opposite sides of the bottom and upwardly offset from the plane of the bottom a distance approximately equal to the thickness of the panel flange.

7. A clip as claimed in claim 6, in which a foot is provided at the bottom of each of the legs and is angularly related to the leg for abutting the margin of a slot formed in the panel flange through which the front wall of the clip extends.

8. A building wall construction comprising a supporting wall surface, a plurality of superposed metallic finishing panels each having horizontal upper and lower edge flanges provided with a rear edge recess and a juxtaposed internal slot separated by a web portion, and means securing said panels in superposed relation to the supporting wall surface comprising a plurality of metal clips each being generally U-shaped in form and having a back wall fastened to the supporting wall surface, a front wall and a connecting bottom, said front wall of each clip projecting upwardly through registering slots in the top flange of a lower panel and the bottom flange of a superposed upper panel with the bottom of the clip supporting said top flange by engagement with the under surface of the web portion thereof, a pair of tabs projecting laterally from the rear zone of the bottom of the clip and being upwardly ofiset and overlying portions of the flange of the lower panel beyond the recess therein, and resilient fingers projecting forwardly from the sides of the back wall and bearing against the rear edge of the lower flange of the upper panel.

No references cited. 

